I am getting more into fishing for stripers on Whitney. Have had good success this winter and spring with artificial. I have heard that the artificial bite gets pretty tough on Whitney in the heat of the summer but the bite on shad is really good. Not sure if I can catch shad and keep them alive but I could certainly bring some live perch… I have been told these work pretty good for stripers but not as good as shad… as many 17 to 21 inch stripers as are on Whitney right now I would think they would not go uneaten if placed in the right spot? Do you clip the dorsal fins on them to make them easier to eat? Thanks for any help on this subject. I did catch a 13 pounder that was about 31 inches on artificial. That thing looked huge on the deck of my boat. I thought it was going to weigh more than that. We release that one because we caught plenty of keepers.

I don't think you need to worry about clipping the fin. When fishing saltwater, we use pinfish petty often. They are the perch of the ocean. I usually hook mine through the back and towards the head (circle hook). You might try the same. I've never personally tried them on striper, but we hammer catfish with them rigged that way.

I use them at PK when the shad are hard to come by. The stripers will take them but not as quick. I hook mine through the upper lip and they will swim all day. You might shorten the leader to speed up the bite. Don't be surprised if you get a striper bite and he drops the perch after a long run. if the perch gets the fins up the striper will let him go. He'll come back though and take the perch.

Another benefit of fishing those perch is you will get some nice LM Bass and Flatheads if they are in the area.

I've good luck with perch on Whitney. Catch them on my ultralight spinning rig and hook them behind the dorsal fin. Used 7' leader on my striper rigs.

Thanks for the help guys. Going to give it a try this summer when the artificial bite cools off. But right now they are hitting artificials great. Does anybody clip their dorsal fins to try to keep them from dropping the bait? Thanks

Do you guys fish this using a Carolina rig? If so can I ask a few questions.
What depth do you guys target when fishing on the bottom like this on Whitney? 2oz egg sinkers for weight? Circle hooks or any preference? 2ft leader or so? Any info on deciding hooking through nose, back, tail?
Any info would be great as this is also my first summer on Whitney like the original poster.

Generally I don’t fish on the bottom. Occasionally yes. I watch for the depth that the fish are hanging on my sonar and put my bait just above them.
I don’t clip the baits fins ever. Al fish species know to take a meal head first normally. If somehow the bait gets it’s fine up and the fish drops it many times they will circle back and try taking it head first again.
I usually use 2 ought circle hooks but occasionally go up a size to 3 ought.
My flouro leaders are 2 ft to 5 ft.
Weight from 1/2 oz to 2 oz depends on the wind and bait size.
Normally I hook live shad through the nostrils. Perch bream sunfish whatever you want to call them worm eaters get hooked through the back just behind the dorsal fin.

Okay, thanks again for the help guys. Going to try that this summer when the artificial bite cools off. Hopefully they’ll keep biting artificial‘s through May? If we’re lucky.

Do you have a better hook up rate with the circle hooks? any offset?

I don't know if its a coincidence or what, but at PK lake, my wife and I always had better luck using perch caught in that lake, versus buying from baitstand or caught from a stock tank.

My buddy Ed clips the dorsal fin every time. It improves his hook up ratio and also makes the fish look injured to entice a bite. I haven’t posted the full video of our last trip but it will be in that video .

Fewer gut hooked fish is why I use circle hooks.

Makes a HUGE difference when you use bait caught in the lake vs bait caught elsewhere.

Lots of interesting information here. I can’t understand why it would make a difference in how well the fish bite if you catch your perch from a stock tank or from the lake? Maybe they’re more lively if you catch them from the lake… I would think to a striper a perch is a hot meal whether it’s from Lake Whitney or a stock tank but I’ve never tried it and will take your word for it. I’m not sure where I would catch perch on Whitney so my plan is getting more difficult. For now I’m just gonna keep catching the he** out of them on artificials. Having a lot of fun right now. There are so many 17-21” stripers. I was reading somewhere that for the first 4 to 5 years of life stripers double their weight every year. When all these 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounders double their weight, they are going to be even more fun. I’ve been told there’s so many because they had a natural spawn during continuous river flow two or three years ago.

I like Lake Whitney. I’ve caught stripers there on perch. I used a fly rod to catch perch and I’ve bought perch at the bait shop. Been years ago but good times for sure